When everything changed
by Lunabug1986
Summary: Slow burn, M for later chapters. Everything changes in super geek Felicity's life when she finds out who the Hood really is. Awful summary ;) Split POV. Olicity.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, it's been a while since I've written anything (under a different pen name) and I'm currently obsessed with Arrow, so be kind to me, but please enjoy. I appreciate comments like you wouldn't believe :)****  
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Felicity Smoak was a nerd, through and through. She'd also been described as a geek, a dork, a weirdo, and a loser. Any of those adjectives would fit perfectly she thought, as she sat alone on her fourth Friday night at home in a row. Curled up on her couch with a bottle of mid range red wine, re-watching Serenity for what seemed like the hundredth time. Her tablet lay beside her at her feet, still open on the last page of Fan Fiction she'd been reading about the Hood, before the movie had caught her attention with one of it's pivotal scenes.

"I'm like a leaf on the wind," the TV spoke, "Watch how I soar," Felicity finished. A tear running unhindered down her cheek as a particularly favourite character met his untimely demise. She shifted slightly, sniffing and wiping away the evidence of her upset.

"Get it together Smoak," she muttered to herself. She turned the TV off and lifted her tablet and her glass, heading towards the bedroom and turning off the lights and locking the door as she went through her night time routine.

She climbed into bed, getting comfortable and lifting her tablet to finish her story. Since the vigilante arrived in Starling City, her regular Fan Fiction site had been overrun with smut filled tales of damsels in distress being saved from the plights of the city by a mysterious green leather clad archer. This particular story was a slow burn, starting with a woman who worked at a bar that had been robbed, and had been rescued by the Hood, who preceded to whisk her into his world and ravage her. The story brought Felicity the release that she desperately needed and she slept soundly.

Work arrived bright and early the next morning and she got through her day by keeping busy working out the bugs in some new programming that Queen Consolidated had developed for a new project in the Applied Sciences department. Five o'clock came around quickly, and she gathered her things together, itching to take out her tablet and continue reading the story from last night. It had become a drug for her and she wasn't able to get the images and the words out of her head. She walked quickly across the parking lot, her high, blond ponytail swinging brightly from side to side as her heels clicked their way across the concrete floor. Her red mini was parked near to the elevator and it didn't take long for her to reach her vehicle.

She threw her bag onto the passenger seat and climbed in. She eyeballed herself in the rear view mirror, fixing her lipstick and mentally telling herself to get a grip to try and curb the raucous thoughts floating through her mind. She heard a small groan from behind her and leapt in her seat, her hand flying to the door handle and letting out a small yelp.

The Hood was in her back seat.

Her mind ran a million thoughts a second.

"Felicity," he gasped.

"He knows my name?" she gasped and clasped a hand over her mouth. "I said that out loud didn't I? Oh God. I'm sorry! I know I'm rambling, I can't help it, when I'm nervous I just kind of babble and it's difficult to st.."

"Felicity," he rasped and she noticed how forced his voice was as he lifted a hand up to pull the hood back from his face, "It's me, it's Oliver."

"Oh my God! Oliver, you're the Hood? Are you hurt? You look hurt. I should take you to the hospital, you look like you need.." She was rambling again and she knew it, but she couldn't seem to help herself.

"Felicity!" he growled at her, cutting off her rambling and silencing her in one word. "I am hurt, but I can't go to the hospital. You have to take me to my father's old steel mill in the Glades. Do you know where that is?"

"Oliver, I think you need a doctor, not a steel worker," she started.

"Felicity, just take me to the steel mill, please." His eyes were fluttering like he was losing consciousness and she panicked. She started the car and raced to the property, not knowing what she was even looking for when she arrived. He grunted from the backseat as she pulled to a stop in front of the building.

He told her what she needed to know to get in and she tried to help him get out of the car, but she couldn't move him by herself and he seemed to have passed out. She ran for the door on the side of the building and tapped in the code that he'd whispered to her, her head felt like it was going to explode. She ran down the stairs and saw John Diggle standing by a bank of computers. "Can you help me? He's heavy" she shouted to him.

They worked on him for hours, the time and the fact that Oliver nearly died more than once, making it easy for her to stay focused. She couldn't help but notice the muscles of his chest though, marred with scars and tattoos that made her want to hold him forever and take all his pains away. When he stabilised, thoughts of the Fan Fiction she'd been reading began to creep back into her mind, with the hooded vigilante's face now replaced with the beautiful man that lay helpless in front of her.

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**Thank you for reading my lovelies, I'll see you soon for the next installment :) - Lunabug xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone, here's chapter 2 for you. I can't see this story being too long, but I have another idea in the works at the moment as well, so I'm trying to keep them both very separate :) I'm also currently my own Beta, but if you spot something please let me know! Please enjoy.**

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Oliver came to slowly. He felt the pain in his shoulder where he'd been shot and the cool steel of the table under his back as he breathed deeply. He lay still, keeping his eyes closed, letting his muscles relax and for the first time in a long time, just being.

He heard Felicity approaching the table, the sharp clicking of her heels on the concrete floor of the foundry. She was something else, and he hadn't been able to get her out of his mind from the day he'd taken her his laptop. Her quirky style and her runaway mouth made him smile and he stifled it down quickly before she reached his side. He heard Diggle's soft steps behind her, his stride longer and slower against her quick movements.

"His breathing has evened out and it looks like he's less tense than earlier. He's probably asleep." Diggle spoke to her in quiet tones.

"Do you think?" she asked him, her voice sounded worried. "I'll check his pulse again."

Her hand grazed his throat, searching for his pulse and pressing down when she felt it. It was a struggle for him to keep from swallowing hard, even though his mouth felt like he'd never had water before. Her other hand held his jaw lightly to stop his head from slipping to the side.

"Mr Diggle?" she pulled her hands away and he felt the loss of her touch in her chest. "His pulse is quickening, do you think he's ok? It was at that moment that he choose to let his eye lids flutter, and took a deep gasping breath. _Stupid pulse _he thought as he coughed and spluttered.

"Oliver?" Diggle stepped forward and placed a hand on his chest, keeping him flat on the table. "Oliver, are you alright?"

Oliver pushed Digg away and sat up and watched as Felicity walked to another station to get him a bottle of water.

Over the next few weeks he tried to get her to back away, he kept asking if she was sure that she wanted this life; wanted to be involved with the mission he had to try to honor his father's memory. She never faltered, she was completely resolute in her decision.

He'd often stop by her apartment after they'd wound down from the evening's events, he never let her know he was there. Perched on the rooftop of the building opposite her apartment, he'd watch her wind down with whatever TV show or book that captured her attention, standing dutifully by until she closed the blinds in her bedroom. He'd normally sit there well after her lights had been turned off and she should've been sound asleep. She was the secret that no-one could know.

He kept up appearances around the city as the playboy that everyone loved to hate. Making sure that he was spotted in the right places, with the right women and trying to keep the carefree persona alive, but he was never really himself until he'd settled down to watch her night-time routine and felt that he could finally breathe again.

All that changed with the undertaking. The mass destruction of the city, carried out by his own blood and that of Malcolm Merlyn. He'd tried to keep her safe throughout all of his excursions, making sure that she never left the foundry and that everything was left securely. With all hands on deck as the Glades began to fall, he had to leave her alone more often, no matter how much it bothered him.

"Oliver?" her voice came through the comms, making him smile even though he was watching his city crumble, "Oliver, the CNRI building has gone down. Detective Lance says that Laurel's there." His breath huffed out of his lungs loudly, wondering how the people he cared about managed to keep throwing themselves into these terrible situations. "I'm on my way." He growled and headed towards the crumbling building.

He pulled his bike to a stop at the back of the CNRI building, but he could hear Laurel screaming Tommy's name from the front. There was no hesitation, no thought as he ran through the still standing door, looking for his oldest friend. He pulled the rubble off his body and realized that Tommy was not going to make it, the rebar sticking through his abdomen made him impossible to remove from the building.

Felicity heard his whole goodbye.

Oliver left Tommy, the grief of losing his best friend in such a horrific way weighed heavily on him as he climbed back on his bike and headed off to find Digg. The shudders from the earthquake had stopped and the city's officials could take care of the mayhem, he was tired to his bones.

"Oliver!" Felicity's voice cut through his thoughts as he swung the bike around. He stopped and held still, "Oliver! The foundry, it's, it doesn't seem to be doing well!" Her pitch was higher than normal and he knew something was wrong. He could hear the crack of electricity in the background and small sounds dropping from Felicity's lips that let him know how scared she really was.

"Are you all right Felicity?" Digg's voice came over the comms a second later." Felicity? Is everything ok?" Oliver asked, but there was nothing but silence in reply. No sounds from the background of the computers whirring or her breathing. He begged silently for her voice to appear. There was a moment of complete nothingness, before he jumped on the starter and sped back to Verdant, Digg arriving just before him, knowing in his gut that something terrible had happened. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't get off the bike fast enough, throwing the helmet behind him as he ran to where Digg stood completely still in front of the entrance.

The club had been flattened.

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**Well, that's it from me for now, look out for the next chapter soon. Love yas - Lunabug  
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	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone :) thanks for the follows and comments, they keep me upbeat about where this is all going! I know this is a quick update, but this chapter was itching to get out of me. Little bit longer than the last two, but you'll see why. See you at the bottom!****  
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Felicity was scared.

Actually, scratch that, Felicity was terrified.

When she'd found Oliver in the back seat of her car, her life had changed in innumerable ways. She found it difficult to grasp the life that she was now leading and so, she worked harder to distract herself. Distract her from the fact that she no longer had a life outside QC and the Hood. Distract her from the terrors of each new target that Oliver sought out. Distract her from him. His scent, his presence, his good looks and his touch. Oliver was with her 24 hours a day, she thought of him from the moment she woke up and all through her dreams as she slept.

She hadn't been able to stop reading the fan fiction and was finding herself more and more intrigued with the thought of the Hood turning up in her bedroom at night. Her Hood, brooding and lost, looking to her for solace. It didn't make working with him any easier, but it did help her get over to sleep at night.

Over the first few weeks he kept asking her if she wanted to walk away, she'd been resolute in her answers, there was no way she could ever voluntarily walk away from this man. He'd stopped asking her as much now, accepting her presence in his life.

The news of the undertaking had subjected them all to some hard truths. She'd never really liked Moira Queen, but now, after finding out about her involvement in trying to level the Glades, she knew that she could never trust her. It had nearly killed Oliver, but they had a job to do and he wouldn't let anything get in the way of that. Not even his mother.

He normally wouldn't have left her alone for the entire evening in the Foundry. He would've found some excuse or another to drop by with a coffee or dinner, still dressed as the Hood and causing Felicity's heart to flip-flop when he laid a hand on her shoulder and asked if she was alright. His eyes bright against the grease paint.

But tonight was a whole new world for them; it wasn't a name from Oliver's book, or a criminal trying to dupe unsuspecting people out of money. This was his own flesh and blood involved in a plot that would kill thousands of people and destroy his precious city.

So she was left to her own devices, directing both her boys from a distance and doing what she could to keep them safe. She had kicked her heels off under her desk and folded her feet up underneath her in her chair. She'd pulled her hair loose, so the curls were lying over her shoulders and she had her working play list of music floating through the silent building to keep her company. She was watching over the monitors after getting Detective Lance out of the subway tunnels and had sat back to relax slightly, following his movements on the screen through the tracker in the phone that the Hood had given him.

He'd stopped at a building deep in the Glades, and her fingers moved quickly over the keys, bringing up the security camera footage that was still working in the area.

It was the CNRI building. Laurel must be there.

Her hand trembled as she raised it to her ear to turn her comms on, the music shutting off automatically while she spoke, letting Oliver know where he was most needed. She heard the bike moving and killed the link again, watching as his blip of light on the screen moved towards the one labelled "Det Lance". Her focus moved to the camera footage again and she saw Laurel running to her father's arms. Felicity smiled, but noticed that Lance was having to hold his daughter back, she was screaming. Felicity didn't need to know what was being said, she saw the woman's pain brutally painted across her face.

Her hand once again flew to her ear, opening the comm link, but before she could say anything, she heard Oliver shouting for Tommy. The desperation clear as she heard what could only be rubble being shifted.

"Tommy?" she heard the pain in Oliver's voice as he found his best friend

"I'm sorry," Tommy spoke, quietly.

"No apologizing." Oliver strained to reply

"I was angry, and I was jealous. I am my father."

Felicity's hand moved to her mouth the cover the sob that was desperately trying to break through her lips as she stared off into the distance.

"No, you're not." Oliver ground out.

"Did you kill him?" Tommy asked, not needing to say the name of the man that had caused the pain.

"No." Oliver replied. "Thank you," Tommy responded, sounding less and less like himself.

"Tommy!" Oliver shouted, and Felicity knew that it was terrible. "It should have been me," he half sobbed, "Open your eyes, Tommy!"

Felicity turned off the link. Her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest and tears ran freely down her face. She wiped them away and took deep breaths to try and stop her hands from shaking. Tommy had always been nothing but pleasant with her, but she knew how much he meant Oliver. She wanted to open the link again and tell Oliver that it was all going to be alright. She wanted to pull him into her lap and hold him close and tell him that this hurt would go away. But that wasn't going to happen, and right now, what he needed was for her to be strong. To get him and Digg back to the Foundry in one piece, and she could focus on that if nothing else.

She quickly looked over her monitors again, typing in commands to bring up John's location. She noticed that he was moving back towards Verdant. Stopping and starting on the screen as he no doubt stopped to help out along the way. Her breath evened out and she realized that she _could_ actually do this. She could keep them safe. She was moving to pick up a mostly cold cup of coffee that sat to her right hand side, when she noticed the ripples in it. Her hand pulled back and she stared.

Her first thought took her to Jurassic Park and the T-Rex causing the movement in the glass of water and she half smiled at the memory of the movie before the reality set in. The shock waves of the damage that had been caused were beginning to ripple away from the center of the Glades, and her coffee told her that they'd finally caught up with her safe haven. The monitors began to wobble and the lights were swinging, little puffs of concrete dust were falling from the ceiling and she heard the metal in the staircase groaning as the shocks came quickly gathering in intensity. There was a loud bang as the concrete walls at one end of the room cracked from top to bottom, and it was enough to bring her out of her shocked state.

Her hand flew to the comms again, "Oliver!" Her voice shouted through the now very lonely room, "Oliver! The Foundry, it's, it doesn't seem to be doing well!" her voice was breaking and as the lights began to pop, the sparks of raw electricity pouring from them, she couldn't help the small noises of fear from bubbling up and out of her lips. The monitors all went blank and the lights went out. She gasped and swiveled round in her chair, her breath coming back to her lungs when the emergency lights came on, showing the extent of the damage to the room behind her. Parts of the ceiling falling in chunks onto the training mats, the shaking becoming so intense now that she could feel it in her stomach.

She threw herself from the chair with a small scream, still unsure if Oliver or Digg had even heard her words, and flung herself under the metal med bay table as the lights went out again and the noise overwhelmed her.

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She felt like she was waking with a terrible hangover. _Was I out drinking last night? That's not right, I never go out anymore. __Why can't I move my leg? _Her eyes opened and everything was blurry, her glasses missing from the normal perch on her nose. Felicity flung her arm out to her bedside table and a scream ripped through her from the pain that she felt in her shoulder.

She panicked when a set of gloved hands cupped her chin, more screams erupting from her as she tried and failed to move away, the pain crippling her.

"Felicity" her name fell from his lips like a prayer and she immediately stilled, with only a small whimper escaping her. "Felicity, you're safe. You're safe. I have you, you're going to be ok" She'd know that voice anywhere.

Oliver.

Her Oliver was here.

She passed out.

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**Well, this nearly took a turn for the extremely sinister, but I don't want this story to turn into an epic one. There's fluff on the horizon as well as maybe something else, but we're still trying to get these crazy kids to even talk to one another, so don't go thinking that we're on calm tides yet. I'll get the next installment to you as quick as I can, but please, let me know what you think. The validation means a heap to me, as well as any criticisms you may have. Love yas - Lunabug  
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	4. Chapter 4

**I honestly didn't think that this chapter would be up so soon. But here ya are!**

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Oliver paced and stared.

There was nothing he could do for Felicity apart from watch over her and make sure she came to no further harm. The fear that had flashed through her features when he'd found her was forever etched into his memory, and seemed a far cry now from the small and delicate woman lying sedated in a hospital bed.

"Felicity!" he and Digg shouted one after the other as they moved over the piles of rubble that used to be his club, his sanctuary. Nothing seemed familiar and he couldn't seem to grasp any details that might give him a clue as to how to get down into the basement level.

"Oliver! Over here man!" Digg was stood in front of the only bit of building that was left standing. It looked like it was one of the stores at the back of the club. Oliver knew there was no basement access from there. He turned to look in another direction, "Digg, that doesn't have any access to the lower level. There's only one door in and out remember?"

Digg was now pulling the door off its hinges, giving him enough space to stick his head into the room, "Yeah man, I know that. But didn't you dig your way into the basement to begin with? Before it was the club? There's a decent amount of clear space in here, and there's already a bit of cracking in the concrete. All you'd need is a sledge hammer." Silence greeting the body guard, with his head still behind the door. He looked around, he'd expected some sort of reply, but it wasn't a grinning Oliver brandishing a sledge hammer behind him. Diggle jumped and put his hand to his heart.

"Jeeze, you scared me. You look like a psychotic serial killer. Where the hell did you get that?" he glanced at the hammer. Oliver swung if deftly back and forward with one arm, "I kept it in the back of the car. As soon as you started talking I knew were you were going with it. So I jumped over the wall there and took it out of the trunk." He knew that he'd caught the man unawares and that wasn't an easy thing to do.

"Now back up," Oliver said as he shimmed through the door, "The last thing we need is for both of us to fall through the floor if I knock too big a hole in this."

Diggle dutifully back up and let Oliver swing away, the sound of the hammer hitting the concrete was deafening, but it didn't take long for the ground around the impact zone to begin to crumble, and eventually fall away to the blackness below. Oliver stopped swinging and wiped an arm across his brow.

"John, can you head back over to my car, there's rope in the trunk, and you should be able to find some sort of light. I think there might be a flash light and some glow sticks in there." Then he went back to thumping a hole into the floor.

By the time Diggle had gathered what he needed and got back to Oliver, there was a sizeable gap, and Oliver was lying on his stomach with his head over the edge, trying to see down into the darkness. Searching for her. "Felicity!" he called, but there was no reply. His gut twisted into knots as his head imagined the worst. His body slumped.

Diggle reached out to the other man's shoulder.

"She's down there, and she'll be fine, Oliver."

She hadn't gained consciousness after she'd passed out in the foundry. When they brought her in, they'd whisked her away from Oliver and into surgery. There had been too much pressure on her spinal cord, she may be experiencing some paralysis, and they couldn't tell yet what was wrong.

They'd operated on her spine when she'd first come in. Oliver had spent a long time in the waiting area, clutching her glasses in his hand, and a single panda face shoe. A nurse had come over to him with a glass of water and given him updates on every hour that had gone past. He didn't think twice when they asked him for Felicity's details and his relationship to her. "Fiancé" he had croaked out. He wasn't, not even close, but he had vowed that he'd never let her out of his sight again. He fully intended to make her his wife if she'd have him.

After what seemed like an eternity, they'd told him that she was out of surgery.

The doctor had come to see him, telling him that they'd relieved the pressure on her spine and that they'd heavily sedated her. He asked to see her and the doctor simply nodded before moving away. Oliver had followed him like a lost puppy through the halls. He thought about how stupid he must look, his clothes and hair full of dust, his clothes dirty and torn, carrying her small shoe like it was the Holy Grail.

She'd looked so small, buried in the hospital bed, tubes and wires coming from all over the place. He'd cried, her hand clutched in his and he'd sobbed onto her chest. He begged her not to leave him, and he begged her to forgive him for not being the man she needed to be sooner, and he begged her to come back to him and to love him the way that he loved her.

Three weeks had passed since the undertaking. Felicity looked more like she'd fallen asleep than been ill, her wounds had healed up nicely and her colour had returned.

He visited every day to make sure she was being cared for. He talked to her (the nurses said that it would help), he brought her flowers every day to refill the vase by her bed. He'd even managed to get into her slightly damaged apartment and pick up some things for her so that she'd feel more at home. At the bottom of her bed was a crochet throw from her couch, he'd gotten her pajamas for when she did wake up, and toiletries too.

He sat down beside her, checking his watch, knowing that he'd have to return to the office soon as his mother was now in prison and he'd had to take over the company. Things were moving along, and he was beginning to get the swing of things, but he'd been so preoccupied with Felicity, that he wasn't really giving it his all.

He took hold of her hand, his thumb stroking small circles along the backs of her fingers as he spoke, "Hey Felicity, it's just me again. I've been here for a bit today, but not as long as I'd like. John's going to call in to see you this afternoon and he'll probably be here until I get over for dinner later. I think I'm gonna call into Big Belly Burger on the way, I'll pick him up something too. Anyway, I have to get back to the office now. Sorry I've been quiet today, I miss you. I really miss you. I need you to come back to me soon Felicity. I can't do this much longer without you."

He raised her small hand to his mouth and softly kissed the back of her knuckles.

"I love you, Felicity Smoak."

Her eyes fluttered.

"I love you, too."

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**Well, that's a turn up I'm hoping you weren't expecting! Apologies for any mistakes, I will read over it again tonight, as always reviews are wonderful! Hopefully see ya soon - Lunabug**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey everyone, sorry for the delay, but I wanted to get this right. I was also SUPER busy at a comic con at the weekend and with last minute cosplay details in the run up, so this is the first time I've had. I hope you enjoy**

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Oliver stopped dead.

_Did I just hear that or am I imagining things? Did she just say she loves me?_

He looked up at her face, briefly noticing that her heart rate had picked up on the monitor. Her eyes fluttered and she took a gasp of air.

Felicity opened her eyes to a bland white suspension ceiling. Her brow furrowed as she tried to recall it, knowing that the ceiling of the Foundry was made of solid concrete. She moved to sit, but stopped with a whimper when shooting pains radiated up and down her back. Someone was holding her hand.

"Felicity?"

Her head whipped up of the pillow towards the noise, her nose wrinkling when another shot of pain jumped up her back. "Oliver?" her vision was blurry with her glasses missing but she'd recognise his voice anywhere.

"Oh god, Felicity," he almost whimpered, his head dropping onto her hand that he still held in his, "I was so worried."

"Oliver, what happened? Where am I? Why is it daylight out? Where are my glasses?" The confusion was making her head hurt.

"You're in the hospital; the Foundry collapsed and trapped you under it." He kept rubbing soothing circles on the back of her hand. "Diggle and I dug you out, but you were unconscious. There was something wrong with your spine, you shouldn't move. Your glasses are on the nightstand and I should really find you a doctor to let them know that you're awake.." Felicity squeezed his hand.

"You're babbling, Oliver." She laid her head back on the pillow. "You're starting to sound like me." A small smirk graced her lips as her eyes slipped closed again before re-opening slowly. "Though maybe you should get a doctor, I'm definitely feeling more than a little woozy. And some water would be good too." She let go of his hand patting it slightly and letting her eyes drift slowly closed.

Oliver blew out a rough breath that he hadn't realised he was holding and stood up, feeling bereft of her touch the moment he let go of her hand. _She didn't remember saying it._

Oliver found a doctor and let them know what had happened. They had many tests to run, and the nurse who'd been looking after Felicity told him that he should go as she wouldn't be back from the tests for a while and she'd be drowsy from the painkillers.

He took off to the office and busied himself for the afternoon with meetings and things he had to oversee, while sporadically having his assistant Emma call the hospital to check on Felicity. As soon as he got the word that she was safe back in her room, Oliver left for the day, letting Emma know that he might not be in for a few days and to push his appointments into the following week, he headed back to the hospital, making a pit stop on the way.

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Felicity heard him leave and felt the familiar ache in her heart that he always had when they were separate. She'd been dreaming of him before she woke up and saw him sitting there. It had been a nice dream, one like many she'd had before, of Oliver telling her how much he loved her. This one had seemed more real this time and she'd actually replied to him. _Of course he doesn't love you Felicity, it was just your stupid overactive imagination again._

She opened her eyes again to see an older woman approaching wearing scrubs, she shifted herself slightly and lifted the glasses off the nightstand where Oliver mentioned he'd left them and looked over to see the nurse bringing in a glass and a jug of water.

"Well dear, it's good to finally see you awake!" she said, pulling a chair up beside the bed, "My name is Beatrice, I'm the nurse that's been assigned to you" she introduced herself, pouring some water into the glass, before handing the glass the Felicity and pressing the buttons to the side of the bed to help her sit up to drink. "You're fiancé mentioned that you were feeling a bit parched."Felicity choked on the mouthful of water she'd just taken, and coughed violently to clear her throat. "Fiancé?" she asked.

"Yes dear, Oliver has hardly left the hospital since you were admitted, he brought you some of your things from home as well so that you'd be more comfortable when you woke up. He cried a lot at first," her eyes drifted, "he told me often how scared he was of loosing you."

Felicity's mind was running at a hundred miles a minute. _Fiancé? Why on earth would Oliver tell them that he was my Fiancé? And crying? Oliver doesn't cry about anything. Ever._

With her glasses on, she finally noticed that her old crochet throw that her grandmother had made for her draped over her feet and the vase of fresh flowers on the night stand.

"Huh." She said, taking everything in.

"What's that dear?" Beatrice asked

"No, it's nothing." Felicity shook her head, "Can you please tell me what happened after I arrived and how long I've been here?" The old nurse looked at her kindly and explained about her injuries, letting her know that the trauma she'd received had caused pressure on her spine, but she'd received surgery to correct it and the doctors were happy that it had not caused any lasting effect in her limbs from it. She told her about her other injuries as well and informed her that everything had healed nicely, but it was going to take a while to get her back to how she was felling before and that she would be suffering from a lot of stiffness. Felicity took it all in, but still felt very detached from everything. "And how long?" she asked, pushing her glasses back up her nose, "How long have I been sleeping?"

"It's been just about 3 weeks since you were brought in sweetheart," she ignored Felicity's gasp and carried on, "but now that you're awake, we'd like to run through a few tests and get you back on your feet tomorrow. I've told Oliver that he should go home and we'll let him know when you're done."

Felicity could only nod her head numbly. _3 weeks! Oh my god! My whole life has been on hold for 3 weeks! Thank god I've set my DVR for my shows... _Felicity shook her head to clear it before her inner babbling took over.

It took a few hours to get everything sorted out. The doctors seemed happy with all the results and had told her that if she was still improving by the end of the week then they'd let her go home. When she found that it was already Tuesday, he heart leapt at the fact that she could be sleeping back in her own bed in a few days.

It was about 4 o'clock when Digg arrived. He'd brought her grapes and she could only laugh when he handed them over and proceeded to bundle her up in a bone crushing hug, whispering about how worried he'd been and how he was so happy to see her awake. Although it hurt, she welcomed the physical comfort of her friend and didn't want him to let go of her. When he managed to, he took a seat next to her and began filling her in on what had happened in the world since she'd been asleep. She didn't ask about Oliver.

5 o'clock rolled around and they were deep in conversation when they heard a throat clear.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Oliver said as he walked through the door with a different bunch of flowers and an order from Big Belly Burger. Felicity's mouth watered.

"Of course not! Come in!" she waved Oliver into the room, her heart skipping over as he crossed to the bed to plant a kiss on her cheek and set the flowers down on the bed. _Well the cheek kissing is new..._

"That's my cue to leave then," said Digg, rising from the seat beside her. She reached out to him and squeezed his hand.

"Thank you, for everything John," she said to him, tears threatening to spill. He gave her a curt nod and headed towards to door, giving Oliver a firm slap on the shoulder and stealing one of the bags of food from him as he passed him.

"How are you feeling?" Oliver asked, taking up Diggle's perch beside the bed and pulling the chair in closer to her.

"I'm alright I suppose. I'm just getting used to the idea that I've been in here for 3 weeks." He hummed in agreement, lifting the food out of the bag and laying it out on the table that hovered over her midriff on the bed. "I've a few things that I'm still not clear about though, can you please answer a few questions for me?" she asked him, lifting his coke from the table and taking a sip before handing to him. The look of amusement on his face nearly made her laugh.

"Sure," he settled back into the seat, the food forgotten for a moment, "what do you need to know?"

"Well," she started, "how did my things get here for a start?" she gestured towards her feet, wiggling her toes under the blankets and Oliver's eyes followed her hands.

"I went to your apartment when you came out of surgery and they had you settled here." He said. "The doctors told me that you'd be sleeping for a while, so I wanted to make sure you were comfortable. I had to break the lock, to get into your apartment." She gasped and he had the good sense to look sheepish, "Your purse was buried in the Foundry, so it would've had to happen at some point anyway." He reasoned, "You get cold easily in the Foundry, so I lifted the blanket off your couch. I also lifted you some clean pyjamas, and some sweat pants and t-shirts in case you didn't want the pyjamas. They're in the cupboard over there." He pointed at the corner before reaching forward and lifting the burger off the table in front of her. "I also lifted your toothbrush and some of your shower stuff too; it's in the en suite, through that door."

Felicity sat with her mouth agape, taking this all in. It was normal for Oliver to be over protective, but this was a completely different person who sat in front of her, considerate and kind munching on a giant hamburger while she processed. She reached forward and stole a few of his fries, popping one in her mouth as she thought this through.

"Ok," she started, "Thank you for doing that." She smiled at him. "One other thing then," he nodded as he took a bite.

"Have we set a date for the wedding?"

* * *

**This is taking a direction that I wasn't sure that it would, but at the moment I'm just going to see where the characters take me! As always, reviews are always welcome, and howdy to all the new favourites and followers, it means the world to me. Also, apologies for the cliff hangers, but I love them! - Lunabug**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello lovelies! Thanks to everyone for reading and please know that the comments are like Stephen Amell on the Salmon Ladder... I just can't get enough! Little bit of smut ;)**

* * *

"_Have we set a date for the wedding?"_

Oliver choked on the bite of burger. He set the remainder of his meal back on the table and lifted his coke to try and dislodge it from his throat. _When did my mouth get so dry?_

He heard a snort and made eye contact with Felicity. She was giggling. He lifted an eyebrow quizzically as the corners of his mouth raised up. She laughed at him with earnest then, "Your face!" She giggle-snorted again, the hand that was holding the French fry now raising up to cover her mouth as she calmed her breathing. She sobered slightly, the smile still playing on her lips. "I know why you did it Oliver, you needed to get me the best care and to make sure you and John could come to see me whenever you needed to. I understand." She held a hand out to him and he scooted the chair closer to her before taking it and rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. He watched their hands as he spoke.

"Felicity, you're important to me," he spoke in a near whisper, _I love you. I need you in my life, I can__'__t live without you in it. Marry me. _But that wasn't what he said, "You're one of my best friends, I need you in my life, you're my partner." He brushed his lips across her knuckles as he lifted his eyes to hers. He hoped that the emotion he was feeling was conveyed in his eyes as they locked with hers. She meant too much to him for him to just let her go, he couldn't do that. But he couldn't be what he wanted to be with her, a partner outside of the Hood. He couldn't put her in that kind of danger and he hoped she could understand that.

Felicity stared back at him. Her eyes hardened, an emotion crossing her face that he'd never seen before. All the fun from before was gone from her face. She lifted her hand and stroked through his hair. He closed his eyes and pushed his head up into her touch, small sparks of electricity leaping from her touch into his scalp.

She dropped her hand back onto the bed and leaned her head back closing her eyes. "I understand," she repeated, "I'm tired Oliver, and I've had a rough day." His eyes snapped up to her face.

"Oh…I'll um…I'll go then," Oliver pushed the chair back and stood, packing up the remainder of his meal and throwing it into the waste paper basket beside her bed. "I'll come by in the morning to see you before I head over to QC." He bent to place a kiss on her forehead. He could feel her flinching away under his lips. He turned from the bed and walked towards the door.

"Oliver?" he turned back to her, her head back on the pillow and her eyes closed, "Don't worry about coming in tomorrow, I'm sure they said something about physio. I'll see you after I get out of here."

He faltered, she didn't understand anything that he'd said.

"Goodbye Felicity." he hoped she didn't hear his voice crack as he turned and left the room.

_I am going to beat the shit out of that training dummy._

* * *

Felicity turned away from the light, wiping the evidence of her upset from her cheeks as she replayed the words that Oliver had spoken back in her head.

_Partner._

_Friend._

Nothing could've prepared her for those words, and they cut her deeply.

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THAT HE'S GONE?" Felicity stood in her living room, a week after being released from hospital, shouting at John.

"I mean he's gone Felicity. The day after you were released from hospital he spoke to me, told me that he couldn't put you or anyone else in any more danger. He was talking about the fact that you wouldn't have been in the foundry that night if it wasn't for him and he's not prepared to let that situation happen again. I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen to me. I went to pick him up the next morning to take him to QC and he was already gone."

Felicity's heart broke. _Did I read him wrong? _She shook her head to clear her thoughts, she couldn't go down that route again.

The next five months flew by in a blur of doctors appointments, physiotherapy sessions and TV marathons. John came around most days to check in on her and make sure she wasn't going stir crazy during her recuperation. They talked about mundane things, they watched TV together, her introducing Digg to all her favourites and he accompanied her when she went to get groceries.

She went back to work at Queen Consolidated, happy to finally get out of the house and get back into her work.

They never spoke about the elephant in the room, but that didn't stop Felicity from looking. That didn't stop her from hacking database after database looking for information on Oliver and where he had gone. She had a good idea where he might be, but she didn't want to assume that he was back on that island until she had some form of proof.

The times when she wasn't working or searching for Oliver she'd turned back to the fan fiction websites that she'd used to frequent. More often than not now, she was settling down in bed at night and falling asleep with her tablet still on. She used the stories of the Hood to escape, loving how other people chose to interpret Oliver and his nightly activities.

She'd just settled into bed on a Friday night. It'd been a killer of a day in work with some big-wig downloading porn onto his work computer and setting a particularly vicious virus rampant throughout the systems for her to clear out. When she'd finally gotten home, she'd ordered Chinese, taken a bath and checked her alerts for Oliver, finding nothing new in her searches. She'd taken to wandering about the apartment, tiding up and reading on her tablet at the same time. She'd been reading this story for a couple of weeks now, and its M rating was beginning to become apparent.

The story was eerily close to the truth, touting the vigilante as a very rich man with a vendetta against the crime lords in the city. He had a beautiful sidekick who helped him out on missions working out of the back of a van and scouting the locations for him. They had gotten to a part of the story where the Hood was no longer able to keep his lustful thoughts to himself and had set upon his assistant in the back of the van.

Felicity slid a hand under the covers, holding the tablet in her spare hand. She circled and flicked her nipples through her camisole as she read, moving from one to the other until they were both taut and straining against the fabric, the friction felt delicious against her sensitive skin. Her hand skipped down over her belly, reaching under the boy shorts she was wearing and dipping into the wet warmth of her most sensitive area. Her fingers skimmed over her lips and circled her clit as the characters in the story started stripping off each other's clothes.

She dropped the tablet to the bed beside her, imagining the Hood there in the room with her, his hands running down her body, her hips rose to meet her hand as she plunged two fingers inside herself, her other hand flattening her thumb over her clit.

She thrust her fingers in a slow and lazy motion, her hips continuing to rise off the bed as the tingling that started in her toes moved into her belly. She gasped and writhed, feeling the cool air of the room caressing her stomach as the sheets fell away from her body. It only served to heighten her senses and she longed for someone else's mouth to capture the keening noises escaping from her.

Her breath was panting from her lips as she neared her climax, her thumb strumming quickly against her clit as her fingers moved with fervour inside her. She called his name as she tightened around her own hand and came, her breath huffing out of her as she rode her high. She always called out for him, she can't remember when it started, but ever since it happened every time.

Her body slumped against the mattress, sleep coming over her thick and fast until her phone chirped loudly beside her.

_That's the Oliver alert tone!_

She rolled herself over on the bed, lifting her tablet and quickly closing down her previous window and accessing the computers in the lab through the secure servers. Her buzz slowly wearing off as a ball of nervous energy began pooling in her stomach as she waited for it to load.

The alert was from a local newspaper, registering on-line only a few minutes before:

**Oliver Queen returns again! Spotted at local hotspot Verdant!**

Felicity dropped the tablet, her mouth hanging open as her phone started ringing. Diggle's face lit up the display and she answered it automatically, "Did you see it Felicity? He's back in the city, he's home."

_He's home._

* * *

**Well, there you have it, yet another cliff hanger for you! I had a hard time with this chapter, I had it 3/4 written when my laptop died and I lost the lot, so this is a second attempt. This is the first time I've written smut in a while as well, and it's only a single so it may ramp up in later chapters ;) Please drop me a review, you've no idea how much they make my heart sing - loves - Lunabug**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you everyone for reading! I'm overwhelmed by the positive comments and the amount of followers, you've honestly no idea how much it means to me. Bit of a back and forth with the POV on this one, you'll understand why. Now, on with the show and I'll see you at the bottom!**

* * *

_He's home._

Felicity couldn't believe it. Months of worrying and searching for him, and he turns up at his own god damn club in the Glades without even checking in with them.

_I wonder did he even tell his family he was back from his "European Trip", _she thought to herself bitterly as she hauled herself out of bed and stalked to the closet to throw some clothes on, _th__e red dress._ Digg was already on his way to pick her up to take her to the Foundry. It was the only place that they could both think of that Oliver was likely to go. The a had worked tirelessly to rebuild the club and Felicity and John had worked in the background to rebuild their base using funds that Felicity had siphoned off from the people they had taken down.

* * *

The island had been exactly what he needed to blow the cobwebs out of his mind. He couldn't stay around Felicity after everything that he'd put her through, and he'd worked hard to keep his location off the radar. He'd spent a lot of time by himself, schooling his thoughts and getting back to his original training on the now, blessedly, quiet island.

Oliver had finally made the decision to come home, hoping that Felicity and Diggle had moved on with their lives and found new employment. If he was going to carry on his crusade, he'd be doing it alone, and he hoped he wouldn't have to argue with either of them about it.

He had landed back in Starling on a private jet, paid in cash of course, and had called a cab at the airport. He wanted to see Thea before he confronted the rest of the world, and knowing how late the hour was, he guessed she would be at Verdant.

What he hadn't expected was the crowd of paparazzi who were camped out in front of his club and who jumped on him when they realised who he was.

He knew it would only take minutes for the information regarding his return to leak out into the media, but he simply didn't care. All he wanted was to see his baby sister and get home to sleep, it had been a long trip home. He left his luggage off at the coat check, taking a minute to note the new faces and headed towards to noise. The club was packed to capacity and the crowd were moving as one to the pulsing bass notes from the DJ. Oliver smiled, happy to know that the business was still booming after what had happened in the Glades and his hasty departure.

He took his time as he walked towards the bar and watched Thea behind it, surveying the crowd as the beat changed and the club goers roared.

"Ollie," she screamed and bounced up and down when she finally saw him, "Oh my God! Ollie!" she swung herself up onto the bar, and he pushed forward to lift her off before she fell in her precariously high heels. "Speedy!" he shouted over the crowd, hugging her tight and spinning her round. He could hear her giggling into her arms that were wrapped tightly around his neck. H clutched her to his chest for a minute more before he set her on the floor and pushed back to get a good look at her. "I can't believe you didn't tell me you were coming home!" she punched him in the arm, "and not even a damn postcard!" she scowled at him and he broke out his best smile for her making her giggle.

"I just came by to see you before I go home and get some sleep," he shouted over the music, "I just have to check the store room for a package I had delivered here, then I'm going. But can we do lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure," she smiled, "and you're taking me shopping! I missed you!" she bent in and kissed his cheek, before bouncing away round behind the bar again and talking with the staff.

Oliver walked through the crowd towards the back of the club, he entered into the "Staff Only" area and typed in the code to open the door to the Foundry. It flashed red at him. _What the hell? _He retyped the code slowly to make sure that he hadn't hit the wrong key, and still it flashed red at him. He stepped back and pondered for a second, wondering what the hell had happened and why the code to _his _base wasn't working. He stared at the door a moment longer before he noticed movement above it. A small black surveillance camera was swinging round to look at him. He cocked his head to the side as he looked up at it. _Is it being controlled remotely? _he wondered. He frowned, trying to think of what the hell he was going to do, when the keypad flashed green and the door clicked open.

* * *

Felicity and Diggle arrived at Verdant in record time. They'd changed a lot about the Arrow cave since Oliver had left and they entered through a basement access at the back of the club so that they missed the media sitting out the front looking for the next Paris Hilton wannabe.

She smirked at the monitors as she watched Oliver walking through the club on the cameras. He was a little more rough around the edges than she remembered, the scruff on his chin was a little thicker and more unkempt, his hair had been shaved closed to his head. _He looks more like a thug than a billionaire, _she thought, _except for the immaculate suit. _She licked her lips and started typing furiously on the keyboard. She wasn't going to make this easy on him.

Diggle came up behind her, his hand resting on her shoulder as he watched Oliver greeting Thea. "What are you up to, Felicity?" he asked, his tone was teasing and he squeezed her shoulder before stepping away to pull another chair over to the bank of monitors that Felicity had installed.

"You didn't think I was going to make this easy on him, did you John?" she smiled her most innocent smile at him and pushed her glasses back up her nose. Diggle chuckled and shook his head, following her finger as she pointed at the monitor showing the entrance to the Foundry from the club above. "Just watch." she muttered, her eyes never leaving the screen.

They watched Oliver step into the room and type in his code. He looked at the door with a confused expression on his face. Diggle snorted, "You changed the code?" Felicity just nodded as a smile crept onto her face. It was a small torture, but one that put her completely in charge from here on out. Felicity had the ability to lock him out of his own safe house whenever she wanted.

She manipulated the camera to follow Oliver's face as he stepped back to look at the door. He must've clocked the movement as his eyes snapped to the camera. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared into the eyes of the one person who could truly turn her into a puddle of happy goo.

She huffed the breath back out as she released the door, the look of apprehension on Oliver's face was very obvious. "Not so invisible now are you Mr Queen?" she muttered to the monitors as his footsteps began to descend the metal stairs and her anger slowly boiled to the surface.

* * *

Oliver took the stairs slowly, not sure who or what might be waiting for him when he reached the bottom, but about halfway down her saw her. Sat in front of a brand new setup of monitors in the red dress that made his heart stop. Her hair was pulled back in a loose bun, like she hadn't expected to be here this evening, but he couldn't spend time thinking about that when she turned in her chair and her long, bare legs came into view.

He stopped dead, his gaze raking up her body until his eyes met hers. She was angry, he could see that written clearly on her face, _and is that a hint of worry? _he wondered as he managed to command his feet to move again. She began chewing on her lip and he knew that he was right. She was worried.

"Oliver!" Diggle called out, breaking his eye contact with Felicity as he turned to look at the man who had been with him through thick and thin. Felicity ducked her head and turned to look at John as he spoke, "we were worried about you man, where the hell have you been?"

"I'm sorry John," Oliver started as he reached the bottom of the steps, he could barely look at Felicity as he made his way across the room with his hand outstretched to Diggle, "I'm sorry I worried you." He pulled him into a hug, John thumping him on the back, "I'm sorry I worried both of you." he said, turning towards the blond as she stood up from her chair.

_I forgot how beautiful she is, _he thought as he moved towards her, a slow smile creeping into the side of his mouth, _how could I forget how breathtaking she is_? Felicity locked eyes with him and walked towards him. He didn't see her hand coming until he heard the smack and felt the sting on his face. His mouth fell open and his eyes went wide.

"Worried Oliver? Worried?" she spat at him, holding her slapping hand to her chest, "I wasn't worried, I was petrified!" she shouted, making sure she kept eye contact with him. "You disappeared! Do you know what that means in this business?" he knew better than to answer her, so he stood there hoping she wouldn't hit him again.

"It means you're dead you idiot! It means that you've left us here to do this by ourselves, while you're somewhere else enjoying your life. It means that I don't sleep at night because I don't know where you are, or if you're even alive and John's out there wearing your stupid hood, keeping up appearances for you because YOU…WEREN'T…HERE!" she shouted the last three words at him, fire leaping in her eyes. She seemed to disappear into herself as she moved back towards her seat and collapsed into it with a huff.

John moved behind her and put a hand on her shoulder in reassurance. Oliver stood with his mouth open, staring at the Felicity sized hurricane that had just torn through his thoughts.

"You were out there John?" he turned to his friend and spoke in nearly a whisper. He noticed the small incline in John's head to confirm it. Oliver closed his eyes and balled his fists at his sides as he tried to reign in his temper. "I had hoped that with me leaving, you'd both be able to move on, to have a better life." he ground out, opening his eyes.

"Well," Felicity said as she stood up and grabbed her things, "For once, Oliver Queen, you were wrong."

* * *

She stepped around him and marched up the stairs and out through the club. She managed to make it into the back of a waiting a cab and gave him her address before she burst into tears.

* * *

**Sooooo. I hoped you liked it, I needed Felicity to be properly angry with him. We'll be ramping up the action over the next couple of chapters, but this story just keeps getting bigger on me, but I'm happy to let them take over and tell their story (I'll reign them in, promise) ;) Did we like the more mixed POV, or should I be separating them out a bit more? Feedback is always welcome and honestly does make this experience for me, I hadn't realised I was such a comment whore, but apparently I am ;) until next week - loves, Luna**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello lovelies! This simply poured out of me. Enjoy and I'll see you all at the bottom.**

* * *

A week after Oliver's return and he hadn't seen Felicity since her outburst, but his thoughts were completely clouded by her. He was back in the Foundry, after finding himself at a loss in the rest of his life, and had been working out his feelings for the last few hours. He'd been forced to step into the role of CEO with his mother now in prison, and learning the ropes of a multi-billion dollar company more than slightly daunting. He was getting there but it was slow going.

With Oliver having no time to become accustomed to his new role, his first day back had thrown him into several important meetings for the company. With the damage done to his family's reputation after Moira's involvement in the undertaking having such an adverse effect on the business, he'd been advised by the company's board that if he hadn't stepped in, they'd likely loose everything.

As for Felicity, he hadn't heard anything. John had been there through the transition into business, standing stoically by his side. He'd asked John about her, but he'd remained tight lipped and simply shook his head when Oliver asked anything. Things weren't cold between the two men, but he knew that he had a lot to make up for with Felicity before John would forgive him for his stupidity. He punched the dummy harder.

_Why didn't I just stay away, _he thought, _I could've just stayed on the stupid island and it would've been fine. Felicity… that dress… Oh God, how am I supposed to do all of this without her in my life. There's no way I could've stayed there without her. She's the only damn reason I came back. _He hit the dummy hard enough to put his fist through it and blew out a huge breath that he hadn't realised that he'd been holding.

He began to unwrap his hands, muttering to himself. "Even if she does come back, how am I supposed to explain that this was all for her? How do I even manage to tell the one person that I love, that I can't be with them because something terrible might happen that will take her away from me? How do I tell her that she's the only thing good in this godforsaken world and I've destroyed it all by being a pig headed idiot." He threw the tangled tape onto the mat and ran his hands back through his hair, "Felicity's never going to forgive me."

An alarm came from the computer bank and he turned to look behind him.

Felicity was sat at the monitors.

_Shit. Shit, shit, shit._

Her back was to him, she must've come in when he was buried deep in his own thoughts and he hadn't even heard her. That surprised him, not many people could sneak up on him and he wouldn't have expected it from her. Her hair was up in a tight pony tail and her bare feet were tucked under her on the chair as she leaned over the desk toward the monitors. She was wearing black yoga pants and a tight workout shirt. _Why is she dressed like that?_

He padded quietly over towards her, the noise of his bare feet on the mats alerting her that he was moving and she turned in the chair.

"Oh, you're done!" she moved to stand up, he noticed her hands were wrapped in the same tape he'd just been using, "I've been training for self defence with Digg, it seemed important as you weren't here." Her words stung as she caught his grimace and fixed him with a glare.

_Thank God she didn't hear any of that! Wait, wouldn't it have been better if she had?_

She moved to walk past him and he stopped her by moving in front of her. "So we're just pretending that nothing in the past few months happened?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her. Her gaze was cold as she schooled her features into something hard. "No Oliver, I haven't forgotten any of it, but I need to stay in shape to be able to help John. Whatever you've come back for, it obviously isn't me," she flushed and her hard façade seemed to crumble slightly, "I mean us, not me, us. Which means that we need to be ready to take over whenever you decide to disappear again." She jabbed a finger into his chest, and he couldn't help the smile that broke onto his face at the contact. He reached out and grabbed her slim wrist.

"I'm not going anywhere Felicity. I thought I was doing the best for all of us, but I was obviously wrong. The only one who seems to have thrived in my absence is Thea. I'm sorry if I hurt you." he was still holding her wrist, his thumb rubbing small circles on her pulse point, "I couldn't bear the thought of you getting hurt, not again. Not after the undertaking. All of that was my fault and if you hadn't been involved with this," he gestured the room with his free hand, "then you would've been curled up on your couch at home. Wrapped in your grandmother's blanket, with a glass of red wine and your tablet in hand, wearing your Hello Kitty pyjamas and being safe." She blinked up at him rapidly, her mouth dropping open and a look of mild confusion colouring face. Her breathing was more shallow than before, the side of his mouth lifted as he took in the blush on her skin. He noticed the walls that she'd constructed began to crumble more, as he took a step forward, pulling her towards him and pressing the hand he still held against his bare chest. _I have to tell her, I can't loose her again, she has to know. _

Her eyes jumped to her own hand as she let out a small gasp at the contact, his muscles tightening beneath her touch as she flexed her fingers the smallest amount.

"Felicity," he whispered as he leaned into her, "I.."

The upstairs door to the foundry slammed shut and heavy footsteps began to descend the stairs. Felicity practically jumped back from him, leaving more than enough room for Jesus between them as she stared down at her hand held tightly against her chest. He sighed, his shoulders slumping as he turned towards to stairs to see John coming towards him, raising an eyebrow at Oliver as he passed to leave a gym bag down by the desk.

"Sorry I'm late Felicity, I'll get changed and we can begin training." he grabbed his sweat pants and a t-shirt out of the bag and headed for the showers at the back of the room.

* * *

Felicity trembled as John walked away from them to change. Oliver had caught her completely unawares and her head was spinning, a constant loop of _what was he going to say? Why did John have to come in? His chest is so firm. His mouth was so close. How does he know about my pyjamas? Why was I angry again?_

She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts, but she couldn't break out of the spell he'd woven around her. Oliver's hand waved in front of her face. _Oh God! He's talking to me and here I am thinking about his mouth and his chest!_

She jumped, and felt a deep blush move down her face and onto her chest as her eyes snapped to his. He was smirking at her, like he knew all of the thoughts that were currently clouding all of her judgement.

"Felicity?" he asked, "you ok?"

"Yeah. Yes, I'm fine Oliver." she tried to scrape back some of the anger that she'd been feeling before, but she just couldn't muster it.

He smiled again, turning towards the back of the base.

"John?" Oliver shouted after him. John turned to look at him, "Don't worry about changing, I'll train with Felicity tonight, I have a couple of moves that would be… _beneficial_… for her." He glanced over at Felicity with a smirk on his face.

Her mouth was hanging open, _did he just say that? Out loud, and to Diggle? _She opened and closed her mouth like a fish.

"If you're sure man." Diggle started walking back towards them, a small smile on his lips, "I was in the middle of something before I came anyway, so I could do with a night off." He slapped Oliver on the back as he passed him, shooting a smile at Felicity before scooping up his bag.

"See you guys later," he shouted over his shoulder, "Don't go too hard on him Flick." he joked, using the nickname he'd been using for her while Oliver had been away, before bounding up the stairs and leaving her alone with him once more.

She started daggers at the door at the top of the stairs, willing him to come back so she wouldn't feel as awkward as she currently feeling around Oliver.

"Flick?" Oliver's question caught her attention and she turned towards him with a scowl firmly planted on her face.

"Yes." she stated, "It's shorter than Felicity, and I kind of like it. It's our thing." she gestured between herself and the door.

"Well then, _Flick_," the way the name rolled out of Oliver's mouth, Felicity knew that he liked it, "Best get to work here before it gets too late and I have to take you home." He smiled at her as he turned to head back onto the training mats. _Take me home?_

"What's Diggle been teaching you?" he asked as he moved to the opposite side.

She shook the thoughts from her head and moved towards him, stretching her arms out and rolling her neck to work out the kinks from standing so stiffly. _I can really mess with him here, _she thought as her feet hit the mat.

"Just a few bits and pieces," she replied, smiling over at him, aiming for innocent and probably coming off as smug, "he's been attacking and I've been defending myself under his instruction. We've been through a few moves, and I'm able to throw an assailant and block most grab holds." she said, bringing her body into a defence stance as she stood facing him.

"Good," he stated, licking his lips. _Oh no, _she though, _there's no way I'm going to be able to do this if he keeps doing that._

"Let's just start with some simple sparring," he said as he moved forward and mirrored her stance. "I'm going to throw some punches at you, use whatever you've learned to deflect them and move around me. The aim is to get away, rather than engage." She nodded at him, dropping her hand to her pocket and lifting the remote for the sound system out of her pocket. She pointed it behind her and hit a button as music started to float out of the speakers. She threw the remote off to the side of the mat.

"What the hell is this?" Oliver cocked his head toward the music, obviously questioning her choice of music, as they began circling each other. "Radioactive, by Imagine Dragons." she replied, "I have a workout mix, it helps me focus." She shook her head from side to side, knowing that the sultry music would soon morph into a powerful beat.

Oliver's eyebrows lifted on his face as the music changed, and he threw the first punch at her without any warning. She dodged his fist, moving to the side and grabbing his outstretched arm, lifting her knee up she pulled him down and slammed it into his chest.

_Well this will definitely work out my anger issues with him leaving,_ she thought to herself as Oliver face planted on the mat. He looked slightly taken aback as he moved to rise and Felicity jumped away.

"Just a few 'bits and pieces,' _Flick_?" he wiped the sweat off his brow and recovered his stance, "Do I need to hold back with you?" he asked her as she danced around his periphery.

"Not as much as you'd like to think." she replied as she lunged for him. He twisted round, pushing her away from him and throwing a punch into her side. She huffed out a breath, but spun and threw her leg out, catching the back of his leg and dropping him to his knees.

She moved round behind him, feeling excited about the fact that she hadn't been training for nothing, and caught him in a headlock before he could get back onto his feet. What she hadn't expected was for him to pitch forward, pulling her weight over his head and onto the mat in front of him. She landed hard, her breath huffing out of her as she brought a leg up to kick back, hoping to strike him on the side of his head.

He swung himself forward quickly, straddling her midsection as her knee collided with is back and her hands moved to wrap around his throat. He moved faster than she thought possible as he grasped her wrists and pressed them hard into the mat above her head. She grunted in frustration, but kept her knees bent so that she'd have traction and locked her eyes with his. Finally, realising how close he was to her, his nose only an inch from hers, she pooled all her strength and bucked her hips up in an effort to throw him off her, but he smirked above her holding her tightly between his knees.

He shuffled back slightly to make her drop her knees, but she arched her back again to try and shift him. His look changed quickly, the humour gone and one of complete hunger took it's place. Felicity felt something shift within that moment, she gasped sharply, biting down on her lip to try and stop the noise from being too apparent.

Oliver's eyes flitted from hers to her mouth, his pupils widening as he took in her lip pulled tightly between her teeth.

"Felicity," he growled, meeting her gaze again, "I don't know how to say this. I don't know how to put these feelings into words." his voice was rough, more than he thought it would be.

She was silent, her eyes frantically searching his until finally her teeth abandoned their task and she opened her mouth to say something completely out of character for her…

"Show me."

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**Well, um, sorry! Please don't kill me, but this sucker was already over its word budget, and if I'd carried on it would've turned into a monster of a chapter! Smut incoming in the next chapter, I promise. It'll definitely be up next Sunday, and I think we might have a few reveals of certain secrets as well!**

**As always, comments are my crack, and thank you so, so much to those of you who comment, follow and read. It really does make my heart sing :) loves - Luna**


	9. Chapter 9

**Longest one so far guys and as smutty as I could make it for now ;) Split POV to begin with, then it all goes to hell :) Enjoy...**

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"_Show me"_

Oliver's heart stopped for a half beat as he gazed at Felicity spread out below him. Her hair fanning out from her ponytail over the training mat below her, her lips bruised from biting them and her pupils blown. Her look was a challenge and he didn't think.

His mouth claimed hers roughly, lips crashing together and their tongues tangling. Her hands flew up and sank into his short hair, tugging with just enough pressure to make him moan into her. He deepened the kiss, he couldn't get enough of her, her taste made his blood boil and her tongue was meeting his stroke for stroke. But reason was creeping in,_ this is Felicity, I can't do this here, not on the training mats. She deserves better than this._

He pulled back from her, and she came with him. "Oliver," it was a whimper that left her lips, he could feel her need as she tried to pull him back to her.

"Felicity," he lifted a hand to stroke down her cheek, meeting her eyes with his own, "I need to take you home."

Her face fell and he realised slower than he should have that she thought he was rejecting her.

"I need to take you home," he began to clarify, sinking back onto his knees and pulling her up, "because I love you too much for our first time to be here."

Her eyes leapt from her gaze on his chest to meet his, a small smirk beginning to spread on her lips.

"You love me?" she whispered, laying a hand over his heart.

"Yes. I love you. I've always loved you, and you're better than... here." He swept his hand out as he began to stand, "so come on, my bike is definitely faster than the mini and I don't intend to waste any more time than I already have."

* * *

Felicity took his offered hand to stand, "I just need to get my things," she said to him as she walked towards her desk. He nodded and waited patiently for her. She hadn't expected this tonight, she'd been quiet when she entered the Foundry and found him in the middle of a brutal work out. She didn't know why she'd been so light on her feet, but she hadn't wanted to interrupt him and she'd gone to sit in her chair after kicking off her shoes, tapping her tablet to wake it up to continue with the fan fiction she'd been reading. It was a bit of a fluff piece and she found the idea of the Hood pottering about a Laundromat trying to get blood stains out of his clothes quite funny.

She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but when Oliver started talking to himself, she couldn't help but overhear him. She definitely hadn't expected to hear what she did.

She lifted her bag and threw her tablet into it while toeing on the shoes she'd discarded under the desk.

She didn't hear him come up behind her, and she jumped when his hand crept onto her waist.

"Have you got everything?" he breathed close to her ear, dropping small kisses onto her neck. An involuntary moan escaped her lips and his hand tightened on her hip.

"Yes, I think so," she said as she turned towards him and noticed he'd put a t-shirt on. "Do we have to go on the bike though? I've never been on a motorbike before, and I know that there's more chance of an accident than in the car. Should we maybe just take…" he chuckled and her eyes caught his, a full smile on his face as he laughed. "What?" she said as she pulled her bag onto her shoulder.

"I was wondering when the babbling would be back," his smile could've broken a million hearts, "I missed it." He took her hand and led her to the back door where he'd parked the bike. "I assure you that you will be perfectly safe with me," he squeezed her hand, "and I promise it will be quicker."

He reached a hand out and flicked off the lights, never letting go of her hand. He lifted a spare helmet off the shelving there and handed it to her, before grabbing his jacket and leading them both through the door.

She was nervous to get on the bike, she wasn't sure of it, but he helped her put the helmet on and directed her how to sit behind him. He got on and she threw a leg over the bike, shuffling forward so that her body was flush against him. She placed her hands on his waist as the he kicked the machine to life. She felt the rumbling beneath her and marvelled at the power she could feel from it. He tapped her hand to let her know he was going to move off before cranking down on the accelerator and moving off into the night.

Felicity was overjoyed, she laughed out loud to herself in the helmet as the wind whipped past her. She wrapped her arms closer around him and she was surprised how much of a rush she was getting having him so close and the danger of the motorbike all around her.

* * *

Oliver hadn't expected having her on the bike to he such a turn on. He could hear her laughing when he slowed down for corners, but she moved fluidly with him when he turned and her hands gripped tighter into his jacket. All he could feel was the power from the bike and Felicity, her warmth making him feel stupid for waiting for so long to tell her what she meant to him.

He pulled up in front of her building and killed the engine, pulling his helmet off and mourning the loss of her gripped tightly around him. She moved off the bike, taking off the helmet as she went and moved to stand in front of him. A grin split her face in two, "Oh my God! Why haven't you taken me out on this before? That was amazing!" She was breathless and flushed and had never looked more beautiful. He got off the bike, discarding his helmet, and took her bright eyed face in his hands before kissing her, she responded instantly.

"I've never had to get us both to the same place in such a hurry before. Let's go." He took her hand as she smiled broadly at him and led him up to her apartment. He vaguely took in the outside of the building, but she was bouncing with energy and it made him want to look at her and never look away. There was no elevator so they had to take the three flights of stairs. He kept stopping to pull her close and kiss her, as they were walking she kept reach up to stoke his shoulder, or the back of his neck.

They let go of each other long enough for her to rummage in her bag and get the door open. She flipped on the lights in a very cheerful, pale yellow hallway. Oliver walked past her and took off his jacket, hanging it behind the door and taking Felicity's purse from her as she turned to close the door behind them. He walked up behind her as she locked the door, running his hands down from her shoulders to her waist. She leaned back against him and he leaned forward, breathing in the scent of coconut from her hair and kissing down her neck as he rubbed circles on her hips.

"Oliver," she moaned, as she melted back into him. He turned her round, pressing her up against her front door and attacked her neck again. Her hands came up to the edge of the t-shirt, fingers grazing the skin along the top of his cargo pants and making him kiss her with a new ferocity. He felt a trail of fire from every touch, every moan that he draws from her lips.

Still kissing her, he lifted the bottom of her workout shirt and she raised her arms above her head to let him pull it off. Oliver seized the opportunity and clasped both of her wrists above her head with one hand, pinning her to the door and unable to move. She moaned and rolled her hips into his and he nearly came apart then and there, his thoughts making no sense apart from wanting to kiss every inch of the skin that he's bared. He gave her another quick kiss before beginning his descent down her body, kissing and licking and nipping at the pale flesh as she writhed and moaned beneath his ministrations.

* * *

As much as Felicity was enjoying feeling Oliver's exploration of her body, Felicity had been holding out for this for too long to be patient. With her hands pinned above her head and Oliver currently kissing along the band of her yoga pants as his hands grazed the sides of her breasts. He was nudging under the waistband with his nose and she was having trouble breathing.

"Oliver," she moaned, "bedroom, now. I can't stand this any more, I need you." She rolled her hips again, pushing herself towards his kisses, and he growled into her stomach. In a swift move, he scooped a hand under her knees and pulled her up and into his arms, she let out a small yelp and saw his face stretch into a smile. She brought one of her now free hands up to his face and kissed his neck as he began walking them through the now dark apartment.

"Felicity, you need to stop, or I'm not going to be able to control myself," he ground out, his steps faltering every time her tongue met his skin.

"Then don't," she whispered into his skin. She bit down on his pulse lightly and he let out another growl before throwing her down onto her bed. She bounced and giggled as she landed, before sobering quickly as he crawled up her body, peeling his shirt off as he moved over her. She pouted at him and he raised his eyebrow, "I wanted to do that," she breathed as his lips again moved on her collarbone. She moaned under him, lifting her hips when her hands went to her pants and began to peel them from her body. He licked his way down to her hips, running his teeth along the tender flesh at the top of her thigh and making her keen against him, her breathing shallow.

He kissed his way down her legs while removing her pants, throwing them behind him when they were off. He sat up over her on his knees, taking her in and noticing that her blush moved down past the black sports bra she was wearing, down to her black boy shorts with small white stars on them. "You're stunning," he murmured to her, noticing the blush deepen under his gaze. She pulled herself up and her hands flew to the button on his pants, "These need to be off Oliver; now."

Her expression was so serious that he couldn't help but smile. It quickly turned to a gasp as her hand moved over his hardening length through the fabric. "Felicity," his hands buried themselves in her hair, pulling the band out and setting it free over her shoulders. She pushed his pants over his hips, taking his boxers with them, before lying back as he removed them completely himself, kicking them off onto the floor. She reached behind her back and unsnapped her bra, pulling it from her shoulders and throwing it over his shoulder. He launched himself at her nipple, sucking it into his mouth roughly, drawing another gasp from her lips and causing her to arch off the bed. He eased his hands under her remaining underwear and let her kick them off a foot as he used his knee to push her legs further apart allowing him to lay between them.

"Please Oliver," she gasped under him as he moved to the other nipple, his calloused fingers taking over where his mouth left off, "please, I feel like I'm going to explode." He chuckled against her chest as his hand left her other breast, moving down to slide quickly into her. She shouted and rose off the bed as he added another finger, moving in and out of her slowly, building her up. He reluctantly left her breast and scooted down off the bed and kneeling on the floor, pulling her to the edge before burying his face into her and sucking her clit into his mouth like a greedy man. Her hands back in his hair, gripped tightly as she shouted his name. He moved his fingers faster within her, curling them upwards as he wrote his name on her clit with his tongue.

She tightened around his hand and he sucked her back into his mouth, flicking his tongue quickly over her and looking up at her face so he could watch her fly apart calling his name. He moved slowly then, letting her ride it out and come down from her high. He was so hard now it was nearly painful, and he needed her, more than he needed to breathe.

He crawled back up onto the bed, pulling her into him and kissing her roughly. She responded instantly, tasting herself on his tongue and his lips. He was frantic now, needing his own release, but letting her call the shots. Her hand reached between their bodies, wrapping around him and pulling him towards her. He buried his head into her neck, "Oh God Felicity," he moaned. She kissed his shoulder, twisting her hand around him and tightening her grip until he growled into her again, the sound spurring her on.

Her hand guided him and he didn't hesitate as she dragged him over her slick lips, before sinking completely into her. She whimpered under him, rolling her hips to let him know it was good. He moved slowly at first, grinding his teeth to try and keep his control, his eyes closed as his moved.

"Oliver, stop," Felicity's hand moved to his cheek. His eyes leapt open to hers, staring back at him, full of love and lust for him, "stop trying to control yourself, it's you and me. I want all of you, not some version you think I need."

She saw his pupils dilate more than she thought possible as he drew back and slammed into her. A shout left her lips and her head fell back as he attacked her nipples again with his mouth, pulling out and hammering into her. His pace was steady as she raised her hips to match him. He growled against her again, his speed picking up until Felicity couldn't put together one coherent thought, they were fire together and she was burning under him in the best way. She lifted her legs up around him, locking her ankles over his back and giving him a whole new depth within her that tore his name from her throat again. He pounded into her, and she matched him stroke for stoke. His pace began to falter, and she knew he was close. She dropped her feet back to the bed on either side of him and dipped her hand between them, rubbing small circles around her clit to match his frantic pace, noises escaping her that she'd never heard before.

"Felicity," he growled, and she knew she was gone. Screaming his name she fell apart around him again, clinging to him as she tightened and tipped him over the edge and hearing him call her name like a prayer against her skin as he shuddered against her.

They collapsed onto the bed together in a hot mess, her hand stroking small circles over the scars on his back. He rolled off her onto his side and dragged her back to him, burying his nose into her neck and wrapping his arms around her. She sighed and turned her head to him, kissing him softly, "I love you," she whispered into his mouth, "I know." He responded, tightening his hold around her and letting sleep claim him completely for the first time in months.

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**Well? Comments are appreciated, it's been a long time since I wrote a smutty chapter. Unfortunately I had serious computer issues as well, so I wasn't able to get into it the way I wanted. Please let me know what you think, comments are my life blood! There will only be a couple more chapters after this I think, but I have another story brewing in my head for you to look forward to ;) - loves, Luna x**


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